From Version 0.9.12 the master repository for dnslib has been moved to GitHub (https://github.com/paulc/dnslib). Please update any links to the original BitBucket repository as this will no longer be maintained.
Release 0.9.24 (2024-01-02) will be the last release supporting Python 2.7 and Python <3.7. Supporting old Python versions is increasingly painful and holds back adoption of new features so it's probably time to move on.
A library to encode/decode DNS wire-format packets supporting both Python 2.7 and Python 3.2+.
The library provides:
-
Support for encoding/decoding DNS packets between wire format, python objects, and Zone/DiG textual representation (dnslib.dns)
-
A server framework allowing the simple creation of custom DNS resolvers (dnslib.server) and a number of example servers created using this framework
-
A number of utilities for testing (dnslib.client, dnslib.proxy, dnslib.intercept)
Python 3 support was added in Version 0.9.0 which represented a fairly major update to the library - the key changes include:
-
Python 2.7/3.2+ support (the last version supporting Python 2.6 or earlier was version 0.8.3)
-
The 'Bimap' interface was changed significantly to explicitly split forward (value->text) lookups via getitem and reverse (text->value) lookups via getattr. Applications using the old interface will need to be updated.
-
Hostnames are now returned with a trailing dot by default (in line with RFC)
-
Most object attributes are now typed in line with the record definitions to make it harder to generate invalid packets
-
Support for encoding/decoding resource records in 'Zone' (BIND) file format
-
Support for encoding/decoding packets in 'DiG' format
-
Server framework allowing (in most cases) custom resolvers to be created by just subclassing the DNSResolver class and overriding the 'resolve' method
-
A lot of fixes to error detection/handling which should make the library much more robust to invalid/unsupported data. The library should now either return a valid DNSRecord instance when parsing a packet or raise DNSError (tested via fuzzing)
-
Improved utilities (dnslib.client, dnslib.proxy, dnslib.intercept)
-
Improvements to encoding/decoding tests including the ability to generate test data automatically in test_decode.py (comparing outputs against DiG)
-
Ability to compare and diff DNSRecords
The key DNS packet handling classes are in dnslib.dns and map to the standard DNS packet sections:
- DNSRecord - container for DNS packet. Contains:
- DNSHeader
- Question section containing zero or more DNSQuestion objects
- Answer section containing zero or more RR objects
- Authority section containing zero or more RR objects
- Additional section containing zero or more RR objects
- DNS RRs (resource records) contain an RR header and an RD object)
- Specific RD types are implemented as subclasses of RD
- DNS labels are represented by a DNSLabel class - in most cases this handles conversion to/from textual representation however does support arbitatry labels via a tuple of bytes objects
To decode a DNS packet:
>>> packet = binascii.unhexlify(b'd5ad818000010005000000000377777706676f6f676c6503636f6d0000010001c00c0005000100000005000803777777016cc010c02c0001000100000005000442f95b68c02c0001000100000005000442f95b63c02c0001000100000005000442f95b67c02c0001000100000005000442f95b93')
>>> d = DNSRecord.parse(packet)
>>> d
<DNS Header: id=0xd5ad type=RESPONSE opcode=QUERY flags=RD,RA rcode='NOERROR' q=1 a=5 ns=0 ar=0>
<DNS Question: 'www.google.com.' qtype=A qclass=IN>
<DNS RR: 'www.google.com.' rtype=CNAME rclass=IN ttl=5 rdata='www.l.google.com.'>
<DNS RR: 'www.l.google.com.' rtype=A rclass=IN ttl=5 rdata='66.249.91.104'>
<DNS RR: 'www.l.google.com.' rtype=A rclass=IN ttl=5 rdata='66.249.91.99'>
<DNS RR: 'www.l.google.com.' rtype=A rclass=IN ttl=5 rdata='66.249.91.103'>
<DNS RR: 'www.l.google.com.' rtype=A rclass=IN ttl=5 rdata='66.249.91.147'>
The default text representation of the DNSRecord is in zone file format:
>>> print(d)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 54701
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.google.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.google.com. 5 IN CNAME www.l.google.com.
www.l.google.com. 5 IN A 66.249.91.104
www.l.google.com. 5 IN A 66.249.91.99
www.l.google.com. 5 IN A 66.249.91.103
www.l.google.com. 5 IN A 66.249.91.147
To create a DNS Request Packet:
>>> d = DNSRecord.question("google.com")
(This is equivalent to: d = DNSRecord(q=DNSQuestion("google.com") )
>>> d
<DNS Header: id=... type=QUERY opcode=QUERY flags=RD rcode='NOERROR' q=1 a=0 ns=0 ar=0>
<DNS Question: 'google.com.' qtype=A qclass=IN>
>>> str(DNSRecord.parse(d.pack())) == str(d)
True
>>> print(d)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;google.com. IN A
>>> d = DNSRecord.question("google.com","MX")
(This is equivalent to: d = DNSRecord(q=DNSQuestion("google.com",QTYPE.MX) )
>>> str(DNSRecord.parse(d.pack())) == str(d)
True
>>> print(d)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;google.com. IN MX
To create a DNS Response Packet:
>>> d = DNSRecord(DNSHeader(qr=1,aa=1,ra=1),
... q=DNSQuestion("abc.com"),
... a=RR("abc.com",rdata=A("1.2.3.4")))
>>> d
<DNS Header: id=... type=RESPONSE opcode=QUERY flags=AA,RD,RA rcode='NOERROR' q=1 a=1 ns=0 ar=0>
<DNS Question: 'abc.com.' qtype=A qclass=IN>
<DNS RR: 'abc.com.' rtype=A rclass=IN ttl=0 rdata='1.2.3.4'>
>>> str(DNSRecord.parse(d.pack())) == str(d)
True
>>> print(d)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
abc.com. 0 IN A 1.2.3.4
It is also possible to create RRs from a string in zone file format
>>> RR.fromZone("abc.com IN A 1.2.3.4")
[<DNS RR: 'abc.com.' rtype=A rclass=IN ttl=0 rdata='1.2.3.4'>]
(Note: this produces a list of RRs which should be unpacked if being
passed to add_answer/add_auth/add_ar etc)
>>> q = DNSRecord.question("abc.com")
>>> a = q.reply()
>>> a.add_answer(*RR.fromZone("abc.com 60 A 1.2.3.4"))
>>> print(a)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
abc.com. 60 IN A 1.2.3.4
The zone file can contain multiple entries and supports most of the normal format defined in RFC1035 (specifically not $INCLUDE)
>>> z = '''
... $TTL 300
... $ORIGIN abc.com
...
... @ IN MX 10 mail.abc.com.
... www IN A 1.2.3.4
... IN TXT "Some Text"
... mail IN CNAME www.abc.com.
... '''
>>> for rr in RR.fromZone(textwrap.dedent(z)):
... print(rr)
abc.com. 300 IN MX 10 mail.abc.com.
www.abc.com. 300 IN A 1.2.3.4
www.abc.com. 300 IN TXT "Some Text"
mail.abc.com. 300 IN CNAME www.abc.com.
To create a skeleton reply to a DNS query:
>>> q = DNSRecord(q=DNSQuestion("abc.com",QTYPE.ANY))
>>> a = q.reply()
>>> a.add_answer(RR("abc.com",QTYPE.A,rdata=A("1.2.3.4"),ttl=60))
>>> str(DNSRecord.parse(a.pack())) == str(a)
True
>>> print(a)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN ANY
;; ANSWER SECTION:
abc.com. 60 IN A 1.2.3.4
Add additional RRs:
>>> a.add_answer(RR("xxx.abc.com",QTYPE.A,rdata=A("1.2.3.4")))
>>> a.add_answer(RR("xxx.abc.com",QTYPE.AAAA,rdata=AAAA("1234:5678::1")))
>>> str(DNSRecord.parse(a.pack())) == str(a)
True
>>> print(a)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 3, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN ANY
;; ANSWER SECTION:
abc.com. 60 IN A 1.2.3.4
xxx.abc.com. 0 IN A 1.2.3.4
xxx.abc.com. 0 IN AAAA 1234:5678::1
It is also possible to create a reply from a string in zone file format:
>>> q = DNSRecord(q=DNSQuestion("abc.com",QTYPE.ANY))
>>> a = q.replyZone("abc.com 60 IN CNAME xxx.abc.com")
>>> print(a)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN ANY
;; ANSWER SECTION:
abc.com. 60 IN CNAME xxx.abc.com.
>>> str(DNSRecord.parse(a.pack())) == str(a)
True
>>> q = DNSRecord(q=DNSQuestion("abc.com",QTYPE.ANY))
>>> a = q.replyZone(textwrap.dedent(z))
>>> print(a)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 4, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN ANY
;; ANSWER SECTION:
abc.com. 300 IN MX 10 mail.abc.com.
www.abc.com. 300 IN A 1.2.3.4
www.abc.com. 300 IN TXT "Some Text"
mail.abc.com. 300 IN CNAME www.abc.com.
To send a DNSSEC request (EDNS OPT record with DO flag & header AD flag):
>>> q = DNSRecord(q=DNSQuestion("abc.com",QTYPE.A))
>>> q.add_ar(EDNS0(flags="do",udp_len=4096))
>>> q.header.ad = 1
>>> print(q)
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: ...
;; flags: rd ad; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;abc.com. IN A
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION
; EDNS: version: 0, flags: do; udp: 4096
Note that when using the library you should always validate the received TXID
q = DNSRecord.question("abc.com")
a_pkt = q.send(address,port,tcp=args.tcp)
a = DNSRecord.parse(a_pkt)
if q.header.id != a.header.id:
raise DNSError('Response transaction id does not match query transaction id')
The library also includes a simple framework for generating custom DNS resolvers in dnslib.server (see module docs). In most cases this just requires implementing a custom 'resolve' method which receives a question object and returns a response.
A number of sample resolvers are provided as examples (see CLI --help):
- dnslib.fixedresolver - Respond to all requests with fixed response
- dnslib.zoneresolver - Respond from Zone file
- dnslib.shellresolver - Call shell script to generate response
The library includes a number of client utilities:
-
DiG like client library
# python -m dnslib.client --help -
DNS Proxy Server
# python -m dnslib.proxy --help -
Intercepting DNS Proxy Server (replace proxy responses for specified domains)
# python -m dnslib.intercept --help
* 0.1 2010-09-19 Initial Release
* 0.2 2010-09-22 Minor fixes
* 0.3 2010-10-02 Add DNSLabel class to support arbitrary labels (embedded '.')
* 0.4 2012-02-26 Merge with dbslib-circuits
* 0.5 2012-09-13 Add support for RFC2136 DDNS updates
Patch provided by Wesley Shields <wxs@FreeBSD.org> - thanks
* 0.6 2012-10-20 Basic AAAA support
* 0.7 2012-10-20 Add initial EDNS0 support (untested)
* 0.8 2012-11-04 Add support for NAPTR, Authority RR and additional RR
Patch provided by Stefan Andersson (https://bitbucket.org/norox) - thanks
* 0.8.1 2012-11-05 Added NAPTR test case and fixed logic error
Patch provided by Stefan Andersson (https://bitbucket.org/norox) - thanks
* 0.8.2 2012-11-11 Patch to fix IPv6 formatting
Patch provided by Torbjorn Lonnemark (https://bitbucket.org/tobbezz) - thanks
* 0.8.3 2013-04-27 Don't parse rdata if rdlength is 0
Patch provided by Wesley Shields <wxs@FreeBSD.org> - thanks
* 0.9.0 2014-05-05 Major update including Py3 support (see docs)
* 0.9.1 2014-05-05 Minor fixes
* 0.9.2 2014-08-26 Fix Bimap handling of unknown mappings to avoid exception in printing
Add typed attributes to classes
Misc fixes from James Mills - thanks
* 0.9.3 2014-08-26 Workaround for argparse bug which raises AssertionError if [] is
present in option text (really?)
* 0.9.4 2015-04-10 Fix to support multiple strings in TXT record
Patch provided by James Cherry (https://bitbucket.org/james_cherry) - thanks
NOTE: For consistency this patch changes the 'repr' output for
TXT records to always be quoted
* 0.9.5 2015-10-27 Add threading & timeout handling to DNSServer
* 0.9.6 2015-10-28 Replace strftime in RRSIG formatting to avoid possible locale issues
Identified by Bryan Everly - thanks
* 0.9.7 2017-01-15 Sort out CAA/TYPE257 DiG parsing mismatch
* 0.9.8 2019-02-25 Force DNSKEY key to be bytes object
Catch Bimap __wrapped__ attr (used by inspect module in 3.7)
* 0.9.9 2019-03-19 Add support for DNSSEC flag getters/setters (from <raul@dinosec.com> - thanks)
Added --dnssec flags to dnslib.client & dnslib.test_decode (sets EDNS0 DO flag)
Added EDNS0 support to dnslib.digparser
* 0.9.10 2019-03-24 Fixes to DNSSEC support
Add NSEC RR support
Add --dnssec flag to dnslib.client & dnslib.test_decode
Quote/unquote non-printable characters in DNS labels
Update test data
(Thanks to <raul@dinosec.com> for help)
* 0.9.11 2019-12-17 Encode NOTIFY Opcode (Issue #26)
* 0.9.12 2019-12-17 Transition master repository to Github (Bitbucket shutting down hg)
* 0.9.13 2020-06-01 Handle truncated requests in server.py (Issue #9)
Replace thred.isAlive with thread.is_alive (Deprecated in Py3.9)
Merged Pull Request #4 (Extra options for intercept.py) - thanks to @nolanl
* 0.9.14 2020-06-09 Merged Pull Request #10 (Return doctest status via exit code)
Thanks to @mgorny
* 0.9.15 2021-05-07 DNSServer fixes - support IPv6 (from Pull Request #21) - thanks to @mikma
- deamon threads (Pull Request #19) - thanks to @wojons
Add unsupported RR types (Issue #27)
* 0.9.16 2021-05-07 Merge pull request #23 from Tugzrida/patch-1
Add support for all RR types to NSEC type bitmap
Merge pull request #17 from sunds/issue_16
Issue 16: uncaught exceptions leak open sockets
* 0.9.18 2022-01-09 Validate TXID in client.py (Issue #30 - thanks to @daniel4x)
* 0.9.19 2022-01-09 Allow custom log function (logf) in DNSLogger
(Issue #31 - thanks to @DmitryFrolovTri)
* 0.9.20 2022-07-17 Fix DeprecationWarnings about invalid escape sequences
(Pull-Request #39 - thanks to @brianmaissy)
Make DNSLabel matchSuffix and stripSuffix case-insensitive
(Pull-Request #37 - thanks to @NiKiZe)
Add support for HTTPS RR
(Pull-Request #35 - thanks to @jkl-caliber)
Fix display of non-printable characters in TXT records
(Issue #32 - thanks to @sbv-csis)
Add --strip-aaaa option to dnslib.proxy
* 0.9.21 2022-09-19 Minor clean-up / add wheels to distro
* 0.9.22 2022-09027 Issue #43 (0.9.21 Raises TypeError instead of DNSError when failing to parse HTTPS records)
Note that we just fix the exception - there still seems to be a problem with parsing HTTPS records
(Thanks to @robinlandstrom)
* 0.9.23 2022-10-28 Issue #43: HTTPS reads after RD end (thanks to @robinlandstrom for pull request)
Issue #45: Dnslib fails to handle unknown RR types in NSEC RD type bitmap
Bimap now supports a function to map unknown types which we use to
dynamically map from rtype <-> TYPExxxx for unknown record types
RR zone representation updated to match RFC3597
Pull Request #47: Add support for DS, SSHFP, and TLSA records (thanks to @rmbolger)
* 0.9.24 2024-01-02 Merge multiple PRs
#49 - Generate README.md (via symlink)
#51 - Update Github CI checkout & setup-python actions (and remove Python 2.7 CI support)
(thanks to @SpencerIsGiddy)
#54 - Support for RP records (thanks to @ryan-gang)
#57 - Support for LOC records (thanks to @valentinesd)
(Note that this will be the last release supporting Python 2.7 and Python <3.7)
BSD
- PaulC
(Note: https://bitbucket.org/paulc/dnslib has been deprecated and will not be updated)